Building a Complete EDC Carry at Ace Hardware: 9 Picks Worth a Look

Introduction

Hardware stores are not the first place most people think of when they go hunting for everyday carry gear, but a well-stocked ACE can get you surprisingly close to a complete setup. On this trip the goal was simple: replace an entire carry, including a pen, knife, wallet, watch, keys, multi-tool, and flashlight, with items from one store. The wallet and watch did not pan out at this particular location, but the rest of the list came together better than expected, and the total came in at a very reasonable price.

How We Picked the Lineup

The rules were straightforward: every item had to be genuinely useful, realistically priced, and something we would actually carry. That immediately ruled out filler gadgets and pushed the budget toward the items that do the heaviest lifting, mainly the multi-tool. Key organization was the biggest surprise, and the flashlight category turned into an unexpected three-way comparison.

Multi-Tool: Leatherman Wave Plus

The Leatherman Wave Plus is the anchor of this carry, and it needs little introduction. It is an upgrade to the original Wave, with the headline change being replaceable wire cutters in the pliers, marked by the “Plus” indicator. Everything else is the tried-and-true formula: a bit holder, flathead and Phillips drivers, can and bottle openers, a genuinely strong pair of scissors, an eyeglasses screwdriver that doubles as a flathead or Phillips, a large flathead that works as a pry bar, a file, a straight-edge blade, a serrated blade, and a saw.

It is a big multi-tool, and at around $110 it is not the cheapest item on this list, but it is widely considered one of the best for a reason. It even comes with the standard pocket or belt sheath. If you are building a serious EDC around a single tool, this is the one to build it around.

Knife: Milwaukee Fastback Folding Knife

The Milwaukee Fastback folding knife is an interesting oddity. Milwaukee is not a knife specialist, and at around $15 it does not pretend to be premium: the blade steel is listed only as generic stainless, the handles feel like a resin or fiberglass-reinforced plastic over metal liners, and there is noticeable blade play. The carry clip is tip-down, right-hand only, which some people will dislike.

The clever part is the mechanism. It is a liner lock with a push button, so the blade cannot be flicked open without pressing the button, and it cannot be flicked closed either. It locks closed and locks open, which makes it genuinely job-site safe. It arrived sharp out of the box, slicing cleanly on the first test. For $15 this is not high-end, but as a beater knife you do not have to baby, it makes sense.

Utility Knife: Milwaukee Fastback

The Milwaukee Fastback utility knife is widely regarded as one of the best utility knives ever made, and it is easy to see why. Blade swaps are quick and painless, the action is satisfyingly fidgety, and it simply gets the job done. This compact version was about $10 and does not include blade storage in the handle, though a larger version with storage is available if you want it.

Paired with the Wave Plus, a utility knife arguably makes more sense than a traditional pocket knife: the multi-tool covers everything a blade should do carefully, and the Fastback handles the rough cutting you would rather not subject a good knife to. For ten dollars, it is one of the easiest recommendations in this whole lineup.

Pen: Sharpie Pro

The pen situation at this store came down to markers, and the Sharpie Pro was the pick. It came in a three-pack for roughly three to four dollars, which is about as low-stakes as an EDC purchase gets. It writes like any Sharpie does, meaning bold and dependable, and the Pro variant adds a more durable tip that holds up better to daily pocket abuse.

If you need an actual writing pen, this store was not the place to find one, but as a marker that lives in a bag or jacket pocket, the Sharpie Pro is a perfectly honest carry item.

Keys: Nite Ize Doohickey and KeySmart Flex

Key gear turned out to be the strongest category of the trip. The Nite Ize Doohickey has been upgraded significantly since its original straight-bar design. This version is shaped more like a key, with serrations for cutting packaging or cord, a bottle opener, a pry end, and a narrowed tip that works as a screwdriver. It is a genuinely handy little keychain tool that earns its spot without adding bulk.

The real surprise was finding the KeySmart Flex on the shelf. Instead of aluminum or titanium, this version is made of flexible plastic with stainless steel hardware, holds up to eight keys in a nested stack, and is easy to assemble. At $9.99 it was half the price of the aluminum version sitting next to it, which looked nearly identical at $20. As a ten-dollar key organizer, it is hard to argue with, and the whole key setup with the Doohickey came to about $15.

Flashlight: Coast G22

The Coast G22 is the flashlight regulars kept recommending, and at $12.99 it is easy to understand the appeal. It runs on a single AAA, puts out 100 lumens with a 180-foot throw, and uses a tail switch with a half-press for momentary output and a full press to lock it on, plus high and low modes. It is IP54 dust resistant rather than water resistant, and Coast describes it as storm proof.

The beam has what Coast calls a bullseye profile: a defined hotspot in the middle with spill around it, rather than the soft even beam of pricier lights. That is the main compromise, but at thirteen dollars this is genuinely hard to beat, and it is the most pocketable flashlight of the three on offer here, which is why it earns the EDC slot.

Pen Light: Milwaukee TrueView

The Milwaukee pen light was the sleeper of the trip. It has a rubberized front and tail with a protective rubber bite zone, which sounds like a gimmick until you consider hands-free use, and a hard aluminum body in between. It is a single-mode light, which is limiting, but that mode is 100 lumens for 3 hours with a 43-meter beam distance, and Milwaukee’s TrueView beam is very warm, leaning yellow compared with the Coast.

That warmth matters more than it sounds: on wood and painted surfaces, a warmer, softer beam simply looks better and reads details more naturally. Carry depth is shallow, so it is not the most pocket-friendly light, but as an overall flashlight it outperformed expectations, and paired with the Fastback folding knife, the two Milwaukee items together came to about $35.

Big Light: Nebo Columbo Flex 250

The Nebo Columbo Flex 250 is a much larger light, and honestly bigger than something most people would carry daily. It is rechargeable and ships with a USB-A to micro-USB cable. On the included rechargeable battery pack it delivers 250 lumens on high for about an hour, 75 lumens on low for three hours, plus a strobe mode. With two AAA cells it drops to 100 lumens for three hours or 30 lumens for six hours, trading brightness for runtime sensibly.

The design has quirks: the head unscrews with reverse threads, which turns out to be the zoom mechanism, and the charging port is also hidden in there. That is a lot of moving parts for a light in this class, and the beam is quite cool-toned with a square profile. It is bright and capable, but the Coast remains the smarter pick for actual pocket carry.

Final Build: What the Full Carry Costs

Putting together the best possible carry from this store: the Wave Plus at $110, the Fastback folding knife at $15, the Fastback utility knife at $10, the Sharpie Pro three-pack at a few dollars, the Doohickey, the KeySmart Flex at $9.99, and the Coast G22 at $12.99. The grand total lands at roughly $163, and most of that is the Leatherman.

Drop the multi-tool and the rest of the carry comes to around $53, which is remarkable for gear that is genuinely usable every day. No wallet and no watch at this location, but as a sleeper source for EDC gear, ACE Hardware overdelivered, and the color-coordinated green-and-black result looks good too.

Conclusion

A single hardware store turned out to be capable of supplying nearly a full everyday carry, anchored by the Leatherman Wave Plus and filled in with smart budget picks like the KeySmart Flex, the Coast G22, and the Milwaukee Fastback family. The lesson is that the obvious EDC retailers are not the only options: sometimes the neighborhood hardware store hides the best value finds of all.